Insider Selling: Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) SVP Sells 175 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Quest Diagnostics SVP Michael Prevoznik sold 175 shares at an average price of $187.02, reducing his ownership by 0.46% to approximately 38,117 shares valued at over $7 million.
• The company recently reported a quarterly EPS of $2.62, exceeding estimates by $0.05, with revenues reaching $2.76 billion—up 15.2% year-over-year.
• Quest Diagnostics announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.7%, with the payment date set for October 20th.

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) SVP Michael Prevoznik sold 175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.02, for a total value of $32,728.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,128,641.34. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX traded down $1.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $185.41. The company had a trading volume of 657,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,108,102. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $146.17 and a twelve month high of $187.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $20.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.54. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $178.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.35.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 9.01%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.35 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.32%.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $323,000. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 2,423 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 59,686 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $9,004,000 after purchasing an additional 3,840 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 11,002 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,660,000 after buying an additional 1,518 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,698,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Evercore ISI set a $185.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Baird R W lowered Quest Diagnostics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $186.00.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.

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